I personally shy away from Yunnan SNs. Had a few not so good experiences with them the worst one just had the oddest aroma of hotdog on a bun when steeped. I just cannot shake that, Bad olfactory memory can be strong.

So whenever possible, I at least begin my search by looking for Fujian origin. Although some Indian and Ceylon can knock your sox off!

Chip wrote:I personally shy away from Yunnan SNs. Had a few not so good experiences with them the worst one just had the oddest aroma of hotdog on a bun when steeped. I just cannot shake that, Bad olfactory memory can be strong.

So whenever possible, I at least begin my search by looking for Fujian origin. Although some Indian and Ceylon can knock your sox off!

Clearly they're a different tea than the Fujian-grown variety, but I absolutely love Yunnan Sourcing's Silver Needles. Did you try theirs as well?

Jing Tea Shop is different from Jing Tea. The former is based in Hong Kong/Canton area and has a higher reputation on these forums than the latter, which is based in the UK.

Personally I do not think you could go wrong by ordering from Jing Tea Shop.

If are still looking for vendors, you can find good Silver Needles from many vendors, some of which have already been mentioned, like Norbu, TeaSpring, Yunnan Sourcing, Jing Tea Shop, Rishi, and others.

OK, JK but could not resist since, "it is the rarest tea in the world!" (and therefore priced accordingly by Teavana), and we all know that, "the tetsubin is the best teapot for brewing teas!" (and therefore also priced accordingly by Teavana).

I saw a couple of these recently, priced pretty high in a teashop. The owners said they decided to buy them since people have been asking for them....(teavanas false info is spreading more then you think)I looked inside the box and paint was already transferring onto the cardboard box it came in. I rubbed my finger on the pot...faint paint residue was left on my fingers.....

I would hate for someone to sell me this if I didn't know better....one of those future regret buys for sure.....especially considering you could go onto ebay and buy a real functional, beautiful, and authentic kyusu or hohin set made by a real craftsmen (not some china factory) for the same price.